My Box

My box came from Fiesta! 
It's the one that contains all of the Fiesta yarn samples, along with a binder of patterns, too. There are also sales pamphlets, credit applications and purchase orders. So, it’s almost time to begin phoning yarn stores and setting up appointments. {Insert “Squee” and a happy dance.}

The days before receiving the box have been spent creating a spreadsheet of yarn stores in my five states. There are 122 yarn stores in North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and DC. It was not an easy task identifying them, since there’s not a single database for yarn stores. Thank heavens for the Internet. It is so interesting to discover the creative ideas that yarn store owners are using to bring customers into their shops. I can hardly wait to meet these talented owners.

I have also been knitting away on some samples. After completing three projects using the Ballet yarn, a scrumptious blend of alpaca and tencel   I cast on for three other projects in different yarns. There is a cardigan in Cottonista (pima cotton and tencel), 
 socks in Baby Boom (superwash fine merino and nylon),  and a ruffled scarf in Boomerang (extrafine superwash merino). 
 They will be off the needles soon, I hope, so that I can knit another round of samples for my new venture. 

My list of questions and ideas is an ever evolving mix of “to dos” and “what ifs.” For instance, how can I best display these samples? How do I keep up with available inventory? What do I want my business cards to look like? Is there an iPad app that is 
useful for tracking customers?

While I am a total novice in the sales rep world, I am confident that my decades spent implementing systems for businesses will be beneficial as I make many of my decisions. I am also so thankful for the women at my own LYS, The Bay Window, who have offered to be my first sales call.  

At this point, I am focusing on the first week of April for the first in-person calls, which gives me next week to organize, get answers to my questions and make phone calls. First, however, is a weekend yarn crawl in Maryland! With friends, I will be visiting six yarn stores in and around Baltimore, followed by the Homespun Yarn Party in Savage on Sunday. I’ll be going incognito to the yarns stores, though, while gaining 
useful information for when I call them in the coming days.

Comments

[Rob]

Wow,what an exciting new path!

[Debby]

Congratulations on your new position!! You must be so excited to start!

Fiesta Yarns are my weakness. I have a skein of La Boheme in the Waterfall colorway that is just so gorgeous, I love to take it out and look at it. I'm not sure yet what to make with it, but still so glad I have it!!